An artificial surface suitable for contact by a human foot or other body part tends to lack the flexibility of a natural turf or other desired surface. Any activity or occupation, which requires long periods of standing or moving on foot, is enhanced by a reasonable flexibility of the surface. This reasonable flexibility can add to a person's reasonable endurance and minimize injury.
An artificial surface usually lacks the flexibility of a grass covered surface. This lack of flexibility can cause injury even if the contact with the surface is merely walking or standing.
Artificial surfaces, commonly known as artificial turf, are routinely used for playing surfaces on baseball field, a football field, or another playing surface. One difficulty in this artificial turf occurs because of the surface on which the turf must be mounted. This surface lacks the resiliency of grass and can many times cause injury to the players.
Typical injuries caused by an artificial surface occur to a knee or to a toe. There is even a vernacularly named disease call "turf toe", which refers to a big toe injury caused by artificial turf. What is desired is the provision of a surface with the required durability, while adding thereto the necessary flexibility for the surface in order to avoid the damage caused to knees or toes, or to an athlete in general.
Another use of an artificial surface is in the recreational area. A typical recreation surface requiring a variety of surfaces is commonly referred to as miniature golf. This game is typically played with a golf putter and a ball on various holes on a man-made course having various obstacles to add difficulty to the hole.
In order to add a further degree of difficulty to miniature golf, it is preferred for each hole to have a different surface. It is especially desirable if the different can be created without major construction problems.
While a standard golf course provides a highly desirable source of recreation, in dry areas, it is difficult to have a golf course. Water is sometimes a luxury in those areas. It thus becomes impossible to properly water a golf course, and achieve the preferred golf course appearance.
Compensating for the lack of water by an artificial turf surface for a golf course is difficult. Firstly, it is desired that each hole on the golf course be different. Differences are accomplished by varying the length and the terrain. The construction problems for varying the holes, within these parameters, put the idea of artificial turf out of reach for a golf course.
While an artificial surface does not soak, or absorb water, as a grass surface does, it is sometimes difficult to remove the water from the surface. Pushing the water off of the surface is time consuming and difficult. Clearly, a simpler method of removing water from the surface is desired.
It is highly desirable to combine the flexibility and durability of a grass field with the cleaning and drying ability and ease of maintenance of artificial turf. If these two factors can be combined, the advantages of artificial turf become very clear.
Furthermore, it is also desirable to provide the comfort underfoot for a person who must stand for a long period. Standing on a hard surface can induce fatigue. This fatigue can interfere with that person doing the desired work. Reduction of fatigue creates a great advantage.
Whether that person works in factory, a grocery store or other facility which requires a long period of standing, a flexible, durable, easily cleaned surface is also highly desirable. If a surface can provide fatigue reduction for a person with the surface being easily cleaned and having improved durability, great advantages are obtained.